Alexander the Great’s tomb has been missing for centuries. Over 140 official attempts have been made to locate it. All have failed.

But one rogue historian thinks he’s finally found it.

He claims everyone's been looking in the wrong place…🧵 Alexander’s body wasn’t always missing. We know that figures like Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Augustus visited his tomb in Alexandria during the 1st century BC.

But somewhere along the way it disappears from the record…

Early Christians had a complete Bible by the 4th century—but that’s not the only thing they were reading to deepen their faith.

Here’s what books the early Church read besides the Bible🧵 1. The Didache, Anonymous, 1st cent.

The Didache is a brief discourse that contains moral and ritualistic teachings—a handbook for a Christian life.

It’s speculated the apostles wrote it, and contains the formulas for baptism and eucharist that are still used today.

Kings are given their authority by God himself.

At least, that's what the “divine right of kings” doctrine claims.

To modern ears it might seem absurd, but it actually has Biblical roots…🧵 (thread) Simply put, the divine right of kings is a political/religious doctrine that asserts kings are granted authority by God.

In its strongest form, monarchs are not subject to the will of the people, parliament, or any other human institution.

You’ve probably heard the words “Baroque,” “Gothic,” or “Romanesque” in relation to architecture—but what do these terms actually mean?

A guide on the major Western architectural styles🧵

(you’ll want to bookmark this thread) 1. Classical

This is the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. It is best embodied in the Greek temple—an oblong structure encased in columns.

Columns were constructed in 5 styles, or orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite.

Many people blame the so-called “dark ages” on Christianity — they claim the Church was an overbearing force that stifled innovation.

But in the chaos after the fall of Rome, the Church was actually a *civilizing* force that reintroduced order...🧵 The idea of the “Dark Ages” first emerged with the 14th c. scholar Petrarch. He contrasted the “darkness” of the years after the Roman Empire’s collapse with the “light” of the Classical age, led by Greece and early Rome.

You’re a medieval peasant farmer.

You’re at the bottom rung of society—bound to the land with limited social mobility…

But life isn’t all bad. Here’s what it looks like🧵 Even compared to the glorified Roman Empire, the average “Dark Age” peasant likely saw lower taxes, more freedom, and a weaker ruling class under the Manorial system—a type of Feudalism where peasants worked the land under a lord.

Oligarchy is inevitable.

From ancient Greek city-states to modern nation-states, all societies are steered by the decisions of an elite few.

Here’s why “power to the people” is a myth…🧵 Greek philosopher Plato believed the existing forms of government were flawed, critiquing them in his famous work the “Republic.”

He claimed monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy all eventually devolve into their tyrannical forms.

In 1962, C.S. Lewis was asked to name the books that had most influenced his thought.

The list he came up with was packed with time-honored classics.

Here’s his list of 10 works🧵 1. The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius

Written while he awaited execution, the work is a dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy who consoles the author by discussing the fleeting nature of worldly goods. It influenced the late-antique mind more than any other work.

The Black Death wiped out half of Europe—as many as 50 million people perished as a result of the plague.

But it was also a new beginning.

The world might look very different today had the plague not set the West on a new course…🧵 Supposedly first introduced to Europe during the siege of Caffa in 1347, the disease was likely carried by fleas that hitched rides on Genoese ships sailing around the Mediterranean.

At the time, no one could have guessed the damage these little fleas would cause…

Most know Socrates as the celebrated thinker who birthed Western philosophy.

But Friedrich Nietzsche called him “anti-Greek” and a “symptom of decline” — a critic who deconstructed Greek culture…

What was Nietzsche talking about? 🧵 Socrates is widely regarded as a crucial figure in Western civilization.

Rising to fame in the 5th century BC, he mentored figures like Plato, Xenophon and Alcibiades, and was featured in Plato’s writings including the popular “Republic”.

America once believed it had a divine mission.

Rooted in American exceptionalism, this idea was known as "Manifest Destiny".

It inspired a people to conquer a continent — and push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible🧵 (thread) The term “manifest destiny” first appeared in an article by newspaper editor John O'Sullivan in 1845.

O'Sullivan, described as "always full of grand and world-embracing schemes," used the phrase in the midst of the ongoing Oregon boundary dispute with Britain.

Art Deco needs to be the architectural style for America's upcoming golden age.

Here's why🧵 Kenneth Clarke said:

“Vigour, energy, vitality: all the civilizations—or civilizing epochs—have had a weight of energy behind them.”

Art Deco embodies this vitality.

In 1322 an English knight journeyed to China, following in the footsteps of Marco Polo. 

His trip, however, involved:

-dwarves
-dragons
-centaurs & more

His wild adventure made him the most famous man in Europe...🧵 Hailing from St. Albans, Sir John Mandeville set out on a trip to the far east.

It would be over three decades until he returned, but the knight kept a log of his expedition and published it in 1371.

It is known simply as "Mandeville's Travels."

Why do civilizations arise in some places and not others?

Historian Arnold Toynbee claimed the usual answers—race, environment, resources—were too narrow.

Rather, something called “challenge and response” was the answer.

To build a civilization, you must make it STRUGGLE…🧵 Toynbee was an English historian who published the 12-volume masterwork “A Study of History,” which traced the life cycle of about two dozen civilizations.

Rather than simply naming events and dates, though, Toynbee built a framework for world history…

Is corruption inevitable?

The ancient Greeks observed that governments often devolve into distorted versions of themselves.

The problem is the ruling party's tendency to abuse power...🧵(thread) Precluding the explicit idea of social cycles is the concept of “dark ages” — dominated by poor leadership, war, famine, and tech/artistic stagnation — and “golden ages” — periods of peace, plenty, and social progress — across social scales, from city-states to civilizations.

Much of Medieval and Renaissance architecture was inspired by one man.

Artists like Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, and da Vinci learned a lot of what they knew from an obscure Roman engineer who lived more than 1000 years prior…🧵(thread) The 16th-century architect Palladio called Roman architect Vitruvius his “master and guide,” but little is known of the figure.

We do know he was a military engineer who served under Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC, specializing in the construction of ballista siege engines

Why is France called the "eldest daughter of the Church"?

It all started with baptism of an ancient king....

It might sound hyperbolic, but the baptism of Clovis changed the West — and Christianity — forever🧵 Clovis was born a pagan to Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks, in 466 AD in a chaotic period for Western Europe, as the power vacuum left by the collapsing Western Roman Empire was filled by various barbarian kingdoms: Franks, Visigoths, Alemmani, among others.

The Nine Worthies were medieval “superheroes” — a cast of exemplary men who embodied knightly virtue.

But more than anything, they represented a unified Christian narrative stretching back to antiquity.

World history was the unravelling of a divine plan…🧵 The first description of the Worthies appears in the once-popular Romance “Voeux du Paon” (Vows of the Peacock), written by Jacques de Longuyon in 1312.

Though closely tied to the high middle ages, the characters stretch back much further in time…

People want to blame feminism or the breakdown of religion for the fertility crisis, but it’s fundamentally a technological one.

Spengler observed that birthrates fall once a certain level of civilization is attained. He called it the sterility of civilized man. The fundamental change is a move away from town or village society toward one of cities, namely what he called "world cities", or massive megalopolises where people live disconnected from nature.

Should Christianity adopt a specific architectural style?

19th-century architect Augustus Pugin thought so.

He believed architecture could be a moral force — that it could shape how people behaved...🧵(thread) You’ve probably seen Pugin’s impressive Neo-Gothic designs. The Palace of Westminster and Elizabeth Tower (where Big Ben rests atop) are two of his most famous contributions.

They were products of a man who aimed to shape the world both aesthetically and spiritually…

Augustus' empire had problems: falling birth rates, declining religion, and political turmoil.

Sounds familiar right — so how did he fix them?

Augustus looked to the past — to tradition — to reform his empire.

Here’s what he did, and why it still matters 2000 year later…🧵 The empire that Caesar Augustus birthed began on rocky footing.

Civil conflict had engulfed Rome since Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC; now faith in its civil and religious institutions was waning — hardly surprising given the instability of the previous decades.